


Everybody Wants a Slice

by Grace Kay (Drummerchick7)



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Romance, Shameless Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 06:38:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drummerchick7/pseuds/Grace%20Kay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever wonder what Communications Specialist Samantha Traynor did during all that downtime we didn't see her taking on the Citadel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fic. Ever. Hope you like it!

**Prologue**

Samantha Traynor never considered herself to be promiscuous. Up until now, she'd been monogamous to a fault, turning down women who might have been interested in her because they were not interested in anything more. But now, at the end of times, she found that she had more offers than she knew what to do with, and was utterly powerless to turn any of them down.

She looked across the room now to the woman lying naked in the bed. She'd become quite fond of her. She started thinking about all the other women, the one-night-stands that she'd promised herself all through University and her time with the Alliance she would never participate in. She almost snorted thinking how "the end-times" make short work of your convictions.  _Or maybe they just make you rethink what's_ _actually_ _important._

The woman stirred, opening her eyes. "Hey, you," she said, shifting her head so that she held it up with on of her hands, showing off her sculpted body in the barely-there light of the dark room. "What are you doing over there?" Sam smiled and came back to bed. "Hold up. What the hell is this?" She indicated the clothing Sam had neglected to remove, rubbing the material between her thumb and forefinger. She rolled her eyes, removing the panties and tank top with a chuckle. "There we go. Now, come here, lover." And she took Sam into her arms with a slight growl, erasing her thoughts about all of the women she'd thinking about not two minutes before.

 


	2. Jack

Communications Specialist Samantha Traynor –  _boy, that's such a mouthful, no wonder everyone calls us by our last names in the military_  – looked up from her station as the elevator doors opened. Out walked Commander Shepard, no longer in her armor, wearing only socks, skin-tight leggings, and a grey ribbed undershirt: standard under-armor. The sight would normally have made her heard flutter, and she did enjoy it, but what actually made her breath catch in her chest was the sight of the extraordinary creature who was only a step behind the commander.

She had the most peculiar hair, shaved up the sides and back, the rest of it brown and maybe chin-length, but tied back. The only part of the skin that showed – and plenty of it showed – that was not tattooed was her pale face and fingers. Even the backs and palms of her hands were tattooed, as well as an interesting one that framed her hair, starting at one temple and wrapping around her scalp to the other temple. The tattoos even crawled up her neck, though were far less condensed on this sensitive surface. She wore a short leather jacket with large studs all down it, some sort of sheer white top that clearly showed that her chest and stomach were covered in tattoos, and trousers tucked into knee-high combat boots. Samantha took in all the details in just a moment, but it caused her breath to stop, her blood to pound, and her eyes to stare.

The moment ended when the woman met her eyes with a smirk.  _Well, shit_. She went back to work immediately, not truly seeing what was showing on her terminal, only cursing herself for being so easily distracted, and so bloody  _obvious_. She was able to just settle into actual work again when she heard her name.

"Hey, Traynor." She looked up, saw it was the woman who had caught her staring. Shepard was still up in the cockpit with Joker and EDI. "That's your name, right?"

"Um, yes…?" Samantha had looked up, straightening her posture when she saw who it was addressing her, willing her hands not to shake.

"Name's Jack." She didn't hold out a hand or anything, just stood about a meter away with her arms crossed loosely across her chest. "I hear you're the one who caught the fake signal or whatever it was those Cerberus  _assholes_  tried." Samantha just nodded, unwilling to trust her voice. She was glad she didn't have to shake the woman's hand – then her nerves would have been betrayed for sure. This woman had caught her staring, and she was getting the feeling that she had no problem being confrontational about  _anything_. "Well, thanks. I owe you a drink. Let me buy you one when we move the kids to the Citadel, yeah?" And she walked away, smirking over her shoulder a second time when Samantha just pivoted herself so as to watch Jack's – quite attractive – retreating backside. She noted as the elevator doors shut that Jack's trousers didn't even cover all of her, leaving gaping holes at that delicious part of a woman where thigh merged with buttocks.

"Well, that could have gone a lot worse," said Shepard, having snuck up behind her, and she, too, disappeared with a smirk.  _Shit_.

* * *

Jack pushed her into the wall. They were at Purgatory, Samantha having looked Jack up. It had been a week since they rescued Grissom Academy, and she thought she would take the woman up on her promised drink. The one drink had turned into four, far more than she usually had in one sitting, and before she had realized it, Jack had dragged her onto the dance floor. Samantha wouldn't call what it was they were soon doing "dancing," though. No, this was more like… sex. With their clothes on. And no kissing. Nope, there was the kiss. Jack had maneuvered her to the back of the dance floor, pushed her into the wall, and caught Samantha's lips with her own. She was expecting a violent kiss that would leave her bleeding, and she was only just disappointed. The kiss was feral, full of lust, but not quite what she would expect from the creature Jack had spent most of her short life living as. It left Samantha breathless, her eyes wide, ready to crawl atop the woman and shag her senseless, right there in front of everyone.

"Wanna get out of here," Jack asked breathlessly, chest heaving a little.

Samantha didn't even voice a reply, groaning and placing both hands on the back of Jack's head to pull her in for another blistering kiss, caressing the scars there. Jack's tongue invaded her mouth momentarily before she pulled back, took Samantha's hand, and strode off without another word, practically dragging a rather-drunk Communications Specialist off to who-knew-where.

* * *

"Oh, Christ!" Jack laughed, dipping her head for another kiss. They were in her military quarters, a single she was afforded by being a teacher – all the students had to share a barracks-style room. The bed was only a twin, the room only big enough for the bed and a desk and chair, but it certainly served its function at the moment. Currently, they were both completely naked, lying together, Jack partially on top of Samantha with three fingers buried as deep as they would go inside of her sweet, slick folds. Samantha could taste herself on the woman as she kissed her – she'd spent a few minutes with her head buried between Samantha's legs before stripping off the rest of her clothing and taking up the position she was in now.

She quickened her tempo, adding a thumb to Sam's clitoris, catching her pulse-point with her lips and suckling on it.  _Damn, that's going to leave a mark_. She tried to pull her head away, as she did not want to go back aboard the Normandy with a hickey showing, but Jack just locked down harder, eliciting a sharp intake of breath, and then a moan, the pleasure and pain mixing deliciously. She was getting very close to her orgasm, and Jack was relentless, literally pushing her right up to the edge.

"Jack, I'm going to… going to…"

"Go ahead," said Jack, grinning, grinding her thumb on Samantha's clit, when she'd only gently stroked before. Samantha screamed her pleasure as she was pushed over the edge of that cliff, gripping the biotic woman to her with both hands, digging her fingernails into the tattooed skin. Jack planted her lips firmly next to Samantha's ear and whispered dirty, sexy things to her, telling her how fucking hot she was, and how turned on her screaming made her, and just generally prolonging her orgasm as long as possible.

Samantha tried not to fall asleep as she came down, but it had just been so powerful, and Jack wasn't helping by rolling over and pulling her onto the tattooed shoulder, swiping her sweaty hair out of her face. She tried to rouse herself, to reciprocate, but Jack simply shrugged. Samantha could feel her grin as she said something about the morning, and the Normandy not leaving until 1200 hours.


	3. Miranda

Miranda Lawson loved Earth. It was where she grew up, and while that childhood had been anything but happy, still she loved the planet, all the places she'd been able to visit, all the sights she'd been able to see. She was currently in Vancouver, home to Alliance Command on Earth, seeing if she would be able to catch a meeting with Shepard. Unlikely, she was coming to find. She hadn't been court-martialed, but she  _was_  incarcerated, and there was no way she'd be able to get close enough to speak with the woman and not be detected. Maybe if she could  _actually_  become invisible the way Kasumi could?

She settled for checking out the Normandy. She was here, after all; she may as well see what they were doing to it. It was marvelous, really, from the outside, the only view she was going to get of it. It belonged in Alliance colors.

A dark-skinned woman caught her attention, leaving the Normandy and heading into the building where the R&D labs were housed. She was curious – the woman was cute, and Miranda had always had a soft spot for cute, nerdy science-types. And it had been a long time. Against her better judgment, she tailed the woman, following her to a park, where the woman set out a chess-set made of real wood on one of the checked tables along the perimeter. Miranda waited until she had the whole thing set up before she made an appearance, asking if she might join her for a game.

* * *

Samantha Traynor was just a civilian in military clothing. At least, that's how she currently felt as she examined her un-calloused hands. Well, they  _were_  calloused, but not from using and maintaining weapons; her callouses were from writing with an actual pen and from tinkering with her communications equipment. She had a scar above her right thumb from an experiment-gone-wrong while studying at University: her chemistry skills had always been lacking, and that particular time a mini-explosion had caused a tiny piece of shrapnel to slice through her thumb and lodge itself in the bone. She'd had it removed right away, of course, but still the scar remained.

Her reverie was broken when she exited the Normandy's airlock and she saw her CO walk away from an  _absolutely_   _gorgeous_  black-haired, pale-skinned woman. She also happened to recognize the woman.  _It can't be…_  "Excuse me!" She ran up to the woman, bringing her out of her own reverie.

"Yes… Samantha!"

"Miranda? I was wondering… How…?" She didn't really know how to continue that one. They'd become acquaintances over chess in the park on Earth before the invasion. Now she was here?

"I… must confess, there is a lot you don't know about me, Samantha…" Miranda scratched the back of her neck, a tic she had been noticing was one her new CO had, as well.

"Apparently. Perhaps… over drinks? And a game of chess?" Miranda smiled, nodding her assent, following Samantha through C-Sec to the Presidium.

* * *

Miranda unlocked the door to the apartment and pulled Samantha in, whirling her around and pressing her against the wall just inside. She pressed their bodies together, fumbling for the hem of Samantha's shirt, but having trouble finding it in the dark.

"You damned Alliance and your tucked-in shirts," she muttered, undoing Samantha's trousers. Sam caught her lips in a kiss, one hand buried in her luscious hair, the other pressed into the small of her back, very easy to find in the cat suit the woman wore. Miranda was smooth and velvety, tasting of the coffee they'd shared while she'd confessed her involvement with the Normandy and Commander Shepard the previous year. Her body was supple, and yet Samantha could feel the muscles underneath the clothing, and it made her heart flutter. How was this woman interested in  _her_?

Miranda broke the kiss and lifted Sam's shirt up over her head, letting it tumble to the floor as she began trailing kisses along her jaw, her throat, her collarbone… Samantha took the pale-skinned woman into her arms, groaning from the contact of lips and tongue and teeth with her most sensitive areas. She brought Miranda's head up by her chin, kissing her again, groping her wherever she could reach, starting at her hips, trailing a hand up her stomach, squeezing her breasts through the material of her clothing. As she sought a hardened nipple, Miranda moaned into her mouth, looped her thumbs through Samantha's belt loops, and steered her toward the bed. The backs of Sam's knees hit the bed and she collapsed onto it, finding Miranda straddling her lap after a moment.

She began fiddling with the zipper at the front of Miranda's clothing, finding it and pulling it down as quickly as she could. She couldn't clearly see what was revealed underneath, but she could feel it, and it felt exquisite, hard muscles under velvety-smooth skin. Miranda's lips caught hers, and this time her tongue was more insistent, demanding entry, and Samantha acquiesced, allowing the expert tongue to explore her mouth. She shuddered, imagining that tongue in other places on her body, feeling wetness and heat pool between her legs. They hurriedly removed the rest of the clothing between them, and Samantha shortly found her own head buried between Miranda's legs.

_Maybe they even engineered_ _this_ _, too_ , she mused, using her tongue on the sensitive bundle of nerves that made up her clitoris.  _She tastes delightful._  She tasted almost sweet, almost like actual nectar, and it made Samantha's insides squirm with delight – she could stay here all day! She felt Miranda's hand at the back of her head, insisting she press down more firmly, could hear the woman's moans. Samantha moaned herself, taking Miranda's thighs in each of her hands and yanking her closer. She almost laughed at the yelp and subsequent gush of fluid that accompanied the slightly aggressive move. She pushed two fingers inside of her, taking a break with her mouth to mutter incomprehensibly dirty things up to the woman, pushing her tongue back to her clitoris once she'd had a few good strokes with her fingers. Miranda screamed her orgasm not long after, both hands gripping Samantha's hair painfully, pushing Sam's face into her, riding the waves of her orgasm as she rode Sam's face, pushing herself onto that glorious tongue and those glorious fingers.

Miranda pulled her off once it became too much, curling up to kiss her. Then she let go and collapsed with a contented sigh, letting Samantha extract her fingers and crawl up to lie next to Miranda, taking her place on her side, trailing a still-wet finger up over Miranda's chest, drawing little circles and other nameless shapes between the woman's breasts. Miranda looked over to her, eyes heavily lidded. "I needed that, more than you know," she murmured, reaching over to cup Samantha's cheek. "Now come here. It's my turn." She grabbed a fistful of hair and crushed their lips together, her other hand roaming to some very important places, indeed.


	4. Aethyta

_"Hey, babe. You want something to drink?"_

_"Oh, um, yes… two coffees, for me and my friend there."_

That had apparently been all that had been needed to get Aethyta interested in Samantha. Now she lay with her head on the Asari Matriarch's chest, between her breasts, catching her breath. Aethyta had an arm wrapped lazily around her shoulder, the other outstretched on the sheets to her side, utterly relaxed. Neither of them had a stitch of clothing on, all of it littering the floor from the door of the apartment to halfway through the bedroom – it only stopped there because they had run out of clothing, having already stripped all of it off. She thought back to when the Matriarch had first actually hit on her.

_"Hey, you were here the other day with that raven-haired hottie! She had a nice ass." Aethyta nodded in affirmation of her own statement while she wiped the bar down. "You're Alliance, right?"_

_"Um… yes," said Samantha, not sure what to think of this woman._ Was it right to call them women?  _She was hopelessly inexperienced with asari._

_"I thought I had you pegged for the type that liked women," said Aethyta, not missing a beat._

_"I- I meant yes, that was me, that I'm Alliance" said Samantha, instantly flustered. "Communications Specialist Samantha Traynor, serving on the Normandy."_

_"Yeah, yeah, as far as I'm concerned, your 'yes' was a multi-tiered answer. I know how to read people, being a Matriarch and all." She tapped her nose.  
_

_"I don't even… I mean, I_ _was_ _in here the other day, with a… friend…"_

_"Yeah, the one with the hot ass," said Aethyta with a smirk. "And you do, too, by the way. Have a nice ass."_

Samantha smiled to herself. She really hadn't known what to do with  _that_  piece of information. She'd fallen back on being playful. The playfulness had worked, in the sense that it came off as flirting. Aethyta had ploughed right through her subtlety, though, going with her usual approach – the direct one. Sam said she'd go with her for a beer –  _if nothing else, I'll have an incredible story to tell_  – and had been surprised when the Matriarch had invited her to her apartment for the beer. The seduction hadn't been gentle, or slow, but its very quickness had been exhilarating. Not a drop of beer had been drunk – Aethyta had simply pulled the woman into her apartment with a smirk and begun kissing her. When Samantha had not pulled away, merely groaning and placing her hands on the asari's waist, Aethyta had begun pulling her clothes off, one item at a time, letting Samantha take care of her own boots. She'd been naked by the time they reached the threshold to the bedroom and had immediately begun on Aethyta's dress, watching it pool at the woman's feet before being tugged toward the bed and pushed onto it.

They'd melded almost immediately, Aethyta taking the lead, fucking Samantha senseless while sharing this first bonding she'd ever experienced with her, as well as her orgasm. Samantha hadn't been prepared for it, feeling the woman's presence inside her very being, and now lay spent, utterly exhausted in the woman's arms. She would definitely have to look her up again when they next had shore leave.

"Oh, don't worry, babe. You're  _definitely_  welcome to," said Aethyta, letting the meld finally dissipate fully as sleep overtook them both.


	5. Kasumi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As with everyone, I was always really frustrated that, not only could you not romance Kasumi, but you also could barely interact with her at all. She could have been so interesting. However, it comes in handy when writing, because it's almost impossible to write her out of character.
> 
> Also, in case it isn't clear, this little encounter takes place before all the rest of them. I never said I was gonna write this in order! ;)

"Who's that?"

"Who's what?"

"Shepard." Disdain. "Who is that beautiful coffee-skinned woman coming toward us? She clearly wants to speak with you, and she has your Alliance uniform on."

"Oh. That's Traynor, my Communications officer. And who said she wants to speak with me? You're here, too. She never makes that face she's making at  _me._ "

"What's that she's got in her hands, d'you think?"

"She mentioned liking strategy games. Maybe it's a chessboard, one of the HI ones."

"Ooooo, smart  _and_  pretty? Where have you been hiding her, Shep?"

"I… What? What about Keiji? Or Jacob?"

"I can like more than one kind of person, can't I? Besides, remember? Nostalgic, not dead."

* * *

Samantha was walking back from the hospital, having just visited their favorite patient. Ashley hadn't been up for actually playing, but Samantha had brought along her chessboard anyway. They had only spoken for a few minutes, even, but Samantha was glad she'd come by, and Ashley had said she was glad Skipper wasn't the only one who thought to see how she was doing.

Off in the distance, she saw Shepard walking with an interesting-looking woman. She was short, petite in every way, wearing a form-fitting body suit with a hood that obscured most of her face. It all had a vaguely purple color to it, one that Samantha immediately decided she liked. She thought she'd let her CO know that she'd visited Ash, that everything seemed to be going all right with her. And maybe she'd get to see who this mysterious hooded woman was, too.

"Good morning, Commander," she said as she got close enough. She also noticed the purple facial tattoos with a slight shiver of appreciation.

"Good morning, Traynor. This is Kasumi Goto," she said, introducing the thief to her comm. officer. "Kasumi, this is Samantha Traynor. She's good – I would hate to work against the two of you." She smiled at the thought.

"Oh, I just do my job-"

"Traynor,  _you're_  the reason we got to Grissom Academy in time, so just accept a compliment, alright?"

"Wow, I heard about that. They're on the Citadel now, right?" Kasumi had shaken Samantha's hand, her touch a slight caress.

"Not yet, they'll be coming in a couple of more days." Shepard looked from her communications officer to the thief. There was something passing between them, the way they were trying not to look at each other too long. "Right, so, I have work to do, as it turns out. Traynor, I'd promised Kasumi a beer – would you be willing to take my place and entertain Kasumi for me?"

"O-of course, Commander." She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a blush creep onto Samantha's cheeks.

"Oooh, I know the perfect place," said Kasumi, taking Samantha's arm and steering her away without a backwards glance at her former CO.

"Um, okay. Bye," Shepard called, not getting a response as Kasumi threaded her arm through Traynor's even further and led her off to some unnamed bar. Then, with a grin, to herself, "Don't have  _too_  much fun."

* * *

Kasumi's lips on hers were warm and soft, melting around hers in exactly the way Samantha thought her body would melt around things when on a heist. Kasumi had been completely and utterly honest with Samantha about her line of work, and about her involvement with Shepard and the Normandy during their conflict with the Collectors. Neither of them had actually even drunk that much, a beer or two each. Samantha had surprised herself and made the first move, after more than an hour of conversation. She'd scooted as close to the woman as she could on the bench, and said, point-blank, that she'd really like to kiss her. Kasumi's eyes had twitched with her smile, and Samantha had been entranced with the purple of her bottom lip, and the twinkle of her eyes in the shadow of the hood. Kasumi had put a hand on Samantha's leg, just above her knee, and said nothing.

It had felt like falling, and being caught by an invisible force, like the wind, when she'd closed the distance between them and done what she'd said she'd wanted. And she didn't break the kiss, either. She felt Kasumi's tongue probe her lip, just as liquid as her lips, and she whimpered, parting her lips with the sound, allowing access. She tasted warm and pleasant, like Kasumi's very  _person_ felt. She felt Kasumi's hand slide up her thigh, almost lazily, travelling to her hip, then up her back. Samantha groaned, deepening the kiss further, snaking her arm around Kasumi's neck as the woman's fingers made it to the back of her neck and buried themselves gently in her hair. When the kiss finally  _did_  part, they were both panting slightly, only inches apart, eyes half-open. No words were said, Kasumi simply taking the dark-skinned woman's hand, throwing money onto the table, and pulling her gently along behind her.

* * *

"I really need to get going."

Kasumi sighed, letting her hands continue to scratch gently up and down Samantha's back. "I know. I'm sorry this is only a one-time deal, Sam."

"I knew what I was getting into when you took me here with you." She placed a delicate kiss on one of Kasumi's breasts.

"Still, I don't usually do this kind of thing. I like you a lot, and if things were different…" She tilted Samantha's face up to look at her, wanting her to see her sincerity. "I wish I had the chance to get to know you even better."

"Well, I've  _never_  done this sort of thing – and I'm glad the first time was with someone who likes me a lot." Her smile was almost sweet.

Kasumi smiled. Samantha placed one more kiss between her breasts, then caught her lips, kissing her deeply, before disentangling herself all the way and getting out of the bed. She couldn't help but let her gaze linger on the form in front of her, seeing the short, disheveled black hair, the face tattoos that continued on her chest, the perfectly round breasts, the rounded hips, the small thatch of dark pubic hair, the delicate skin that covered all of her. She'd accidentally left a mark on that skin, a hickey that would be perfectly covered by the thief's normal clothing, but that she would see in the mirror for days to come. Kasumi smirked at the look she was given, catching one of Samantha's hands and pulling her back onto the bed.

"Stay a while longer. I  _promise_  I'll make it worth being late."

* * *

Several hours later, Samantha was the last of the crew to come aboard, hair slightly disheveled, shirt slightly wrinkled. She gave a wavering salute to Shepard before hurrying to the crew quarters. Shepard's omni-tool beeped, and she smirked when she read Kasumi's message: "Sorry she's late, Shep. It's all my fault. Of course, it's also all  _your_  fault for giving me her instead of a beer. So thanks for that!"


	6. Ashley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I was thinking for a while of going on and on with this, maybe having her run into Kelly, maybe even Shepard and/or Liara (maybe both!), but this is where I originally wanted it to end, so I think I'll just stick with that. Plus, I had a couple of rules for myself - a) only non-Normandy peeps for the casual sex scenes, and b) each scene had to be written/framed in a slightly different way (I'd be happy to clarify what I mean if anyone asks). I suppose I could always go back later and add to it if the mood takes me, but for now, here is the last chapter. I'll probably add an epilogue later, which I promise you will not be more smut... probably...

_I hope she's okay. Why can't I contact her?_  Samantha's hands hadn't stopped shaking. She wished she could just get through, but with all of the comm. chatter after the Cerberus coup attempt, it was hopeless. She just hoped it wasn't because the person she needed to get in touch with was dead.

Sam looked up from her station in the CIC, doing her part to prepare the Normandy for launch. The airlock had just opened, and she hoped it was Shepard, so she could ask her if she'd seen her. She desperately needed to know if she'd made it through the attack all right, where she might find her. She needed to talk to this woman who she'd come to care so much for. They'd left things on a hopeful note, but that had been before the attack, right after the induction ceremony. Now that she'd been forced to stay on the ship while someone she cared about was on the station, and still couldn't find out what had happened to her… Well. She was frantic, to say the least.

Shepard's red hair did come through the door, and Sam left her station to go speak with her. She stopped dead in her tracks, however, when Ashley walked in just a step behind the commander. Her heart literally skipped a beat, time stood still for an infinite moment. Ashley was okay,  _she was okay_. The moment sped up, her heart beat twice as fast to catch up, and before Samantha could stop herself, she had closed the distance between them and launched herself into Ashley's arms, a sob escaping her as she crushed their lips together.

A very bewildered Shepard stood next to them, eying Ashley over Samantha's shoulder. Ashley was now comforting Sam, whispering into her ear about how she was okay, one hand caressing the back of her hair, the other wrapped tight around her waist, holding her very close. She made a pleading look to her commander, asking a question without words. Shepard nodded once, turning away with a small smile. Ashley melted back into the depression of the airlock, Samantha in her arms, her crying calming, her breathing slowing, and just held her.

"I'm sorry," Sam finally said, pulling back and looking away a little, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her palms. "I didn't mean to embarrass you like that…"

"Hey, you're not an embarrassment," said Ashley, turning Sam's face by her chin to look at her again. " _I'm_  sorry. I know you must've been worried sick."

"Well, I think my little display just proved  _that_." She continued drying her eyes, a small smile on her face. "God, I must look affright." She tried to turn away again, but Ashley would have none of it. She pulled her face up again with both hands and kissed the shorter woman like she'd been wanting to for weeks, long and deep. Their tongues met halfway, and they both let out tiny gasps at the taste and feel. They'd kissed before, but as Ashley was in the hospital, it had all been very public and chaste; this was different. This was a promise, almost. A promise that would have to be finished later – this was still far too public. Ashley pulled back with nothing but regret.

"Listen. I know we're about to take off. You go back to work – I know you still have a lot of it to do. Meet me later, okay? I have to go get settled." Samantha nodded, hugging the taller woman to her for a moment before putting a little distance between them.

"How do I look? Acceptable? No tears or running makeup?"

"You don't  _wear_  makeup, Sam. But you look fine – you'll be able to walk in there with some dignity."

"I think I gave up dignity when I burst into tears at the sight of you, but alright. I'll see you when I'm off-duty." She gave her a small kiss and walked into the CIC without looking at anyone. Shepard, standing at the Galaxy Map, looked at her out of the corner of her eye, Samantha returning the look. Neither of them said anything, but Samantha caught the ghost of a smile on Shepard's face, and felt better for it. Better, and mortified at what she'd done right in front of her CO.

* * *

"Why did you want me to meet you here?" They were in the cargo bay, the one area of the ship that didn't have any night-shift crew.

Ashley answered her by closing the distance between them with a slight growl. She had Sam in her arms in a flash, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. It was very difficult to keep herself from biting down too hard as she sucked it into her mouth, reveling in the feel of it before deepening it to a full kiss. After a moment she broke the kiss and finally answered her. "Because I wanted you to myself."

"I- I see," Samantha panted, relaxing the fingers that had dug into the material on Ashley's shoulders. Ashley dove in for another kiss, and before long had begun moving with Samantha in her arms. Her hand groped out blindly, and Samantha heard the hydraulic sound of the shuttle door opening.  _The shuttle? Really?_  Ashley hoisted Sam up, her knees automatically gripping Ashley's hips, a yelp escaping into the unbroken kiss, and Sam was forced to concede the point –  _well, we'll certainly have privacy in here_. Lucky for Ashley they were in the middle of nowhere, several hours away from their destination, and would have no use for the shuttle unless the Normandy were to be blown to bits again.

Ashley tried to deposit her on one of the seats in the back, but Samantha had other plans. She pulled back, breaking their kiss, and shifted her weight so as to overbalance the woman carrying her, making her stumble and fall with a slight thud into a similar seat lining the opposite wall. Samantha hit her knees some when she landed straddling her lap, but she was happy with the way they were situated all the same. Ashley grinned up at her.

"I like a woman who can take a little control," she breathed, her eyes bright.

Samantha chuckled. "As do I. But before we go any further, I wanted to-" She was cut off by a single finger over her lips.

"I know what you're going to say. And I like you a lot, too – saying that is about all we  _could_  do when you visited me in the hospital. I was worried about you, when I couldn't get through to you. I was so  _fucking_  happy when Shepard said I could serve with her again, because it meant I'd get to spend more time with you. I want to see where this goes. But right now?" She grabbed a fistful of Sam's uniform shirt with the hand that had been silencing her and pulled her forward into a rough kiss, pulling back panting after just a moment. "Right now I  _really_  wanna rip all your clothes off."

It was like a fire hose between her legs at that action and those words. She groaned and threw herself back into Ashley, joining their mouths once more. She found her shirt coming up over her head, hands pressed into her skin under her undershirt, and then Ashley's mouth was trailing kisses down her neck. They travelled to her collarbone as Sam threaded her fingers into Ashley's hair, whimpering at the feel of the taller woman's mouth on her skin. She unthreaded one hand and began searching for a zipper or a hem,  _some_  way to remove the offending garment, but to no avail, finally giving up and whimpering while tugging at Ashley's jacket.

"I never would have guessed you were impatient, Sam," mocked Ashley with a chuckle, removing her hands and unzipping her jacket. Sam's hands reached to help her, to do it  _faster_  Goddamnit, and Ashley just chuckled again. When it slid off her shoulders and onto the floor, both of their undershirts joined it almost immediately. It was a battle of wills, almost, after that, both of them struggling to kiss the exposed skin of the other woman. Ashley had a moment of winning, pushing Sam off to stand before her and unlacing her boots and undoing the fly of her pants. Sam shrugged all of these garments off as quickly as possible, falling to her knees in just her (very plain, comfortable, standard-issue, no-fun) black bra and panties to do the same for Ashley. Ashley's breath caught in her throat at the sight in front of her – Samantha, on her knees, in only her lingerie – an accompanying gush of fluid pooling between her legs.

It was Ashley's turn to hurriedly discard the rest of her clothing, not leaving her seat in the back of the shuttle. She kicked her boots off, yanked her pants down, and as soon as she was done, she found Sam back to straddling her lap, their lips crushed together and the woman's hands searching for the clasp of her bra. Ashley won, pulling back as the darker woman's tits bounced free, and was immediately on them, one in one hand, then other in her mouth.

"It is  _so_  not fair that you just took advantage of the fact that you're wearing a sports bra and I'm not," Samantha huffed, immediately letting out a yelp and then a moan as Ashley's teeth caught her nipple, causing just the slightest amount of pain mixed with the overwhelming pleasure. Ashley just chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. She was surprised a minute later, however, by Sam getting off of her once again, this time of her own volition. Before she could say anything, her bra had come up over her head, and Sam hand two thumbs hooked in in the band of Ashley's panties and was shimmying them down. Ashley lifted her ass to help, and then Sam's mouth was all over her. She kissed and sucked every part of her stomach, her chest, her tits, leaving only her trimmed thatch of pubic hair and her nipples alone. Ashley tried to protest, to reach for her panties, to even the score, but Sam would have none of it. Ashley's moans and hisses probably weren't helping her case any, either.

Finally,  _finally_ , Sam latched on to Ashley's nipple, at the same moment that her fingers sought out her slick, wet heat. Ashley almost bucked right off the seat, her fingers digging into Sam's hair to keep herself anchored. Sam groaned at how wet she was, and plunged one finger, then a second, inside of her, letting go of her tit to catch the woman's lips with her own. Ashley moaned at the feel of Samantha inside of her, pushing up in just the right way to press against her g-spot. She had enough presence of mind left to haul Sam, still inside of her, back into her lap. She simply moved her panties aside and duplicated her move, silently congratulating herself for keeping even as Samantha moaned right into her mouth.

It didn't take long. They were both pumping in and out of each other, moaning, trying to breathe, and then one of them had the bright idea to add a thumb over the other's clit. The other followed almost immediately, and then Samantha was panting and biting Ashley's shoulder through her orgasm, trying so hard not to scream. The bucking of her whole body put enough motion in her hand to push Ashley over her own cliff after a few seconds, and then they lay there, buried in each other, trying to catch their breath as their bodies shone with sweat.

Samantha moved first. She pulled herself off of Ashley's hand even as she pulled out herself, collapsing with her arms around the other woman's shoulders. She found arms wrapped around her waist, and was pulled in tight, all distance between them gone. She felt tears gathering in her eyes, and she blinked them away. She would  _not_  cry after sex, even if it killed her. Instead, she pressed a kiss to Ashley's neck and clung tightly to her. Ashley hummed at the feel, wrapping her arms around her and resting her chin on Samantha's shoulder, pressing soft kisses to it every now and then. They simply sat that way, cuddling, neither knew for how long, until it was clear that someone was going to fall asleep if they didn't get up and get moving.


	7. Epilogue

Samantha awoke shivering. She reached over and found her bedmate had taken all of the covers and rolled away from her.  _Bitch_ , she thought to herself, taking a handful of blanket and giving it a tug. But it wouldn't come loose – Ashley had completely cocooned herself in the sheets and blanket; even the dog was on the other side of her, the traitor. She poked her shoulder, to no avail.

"Unbelievable," she sighed, rolling her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling of the tent they shared, thinking of the time they'd spent in a similar tent after the war, when the Normandy had crash-landed on an uncharted planet, and they had spent months repairing the ship. They'd decided to camp out, as sleeping together in the crew quarters had not been an option. Now, they were simply camping, having returned to Earth more than a year previously. Ashley had surprised her, showing up at work at lunch with a signed order from her superior to  _take some damn time off_. She'd had two backpacks awaiting them, their black lab also packed up with a doggy-pack, ready to carry his own weight, so to speak. That had been the day before. The reason for Ashley and her superior being in cahoots aside, she was now beginning to think of her warm, environmentally regulated R &D office with longing. And even if it hadn't been environmentally regulated, she would at least be able to have clothes on there, something Ashley insisted neither of them sleep in whenever it could be avoided. Usually she liked this rule, supported it whole-heartedly, but now?

She looked back at Ashley.  _No,_  she decided,  _I rather like being naked with you, you spoiled little princess_. She grinned to herself and leaned down, pulling Ashley's hair off of her face, exposing her neck. She placed a single kiss there, feeling the goose bumps start, and her grin broadened. She whispered to her, nonsense, really, knowing she wouldn't be awake enough yet for a few more seconds. As she felt her start to stir, she bit her shoulder, sinking her teeth in just enough to hurt and not letting go. Ashley yelped and tried to sit up, but Samantha's restraining hand prevented her from moving. She slipped the hand seductively under the blanket, letting go with her teeth and moving to speak in her lover's ear.

"You stole the covers again, you little  _wench_ ," she whispered, pinching the skin under her fingers just slightly. "Now come warm me up, or I'll take it back."

"Take what back," asked Ashley, rolling over and extricating herself from the covers she had so meanly, and  _unconsciously_ , stolen.

"My 'yes' answer."

Ashley snorted, holding the blanket open now that she was no longer wrapped in it, the snort changing to a sigh when Samantha's delightfully familiar – albeit now quite cold – skin slipped into place against hers.

"Are you calling my bluff?" Samantha nuzzled in to Ashley's breasts, one arm between them, the other sliding around Ashley's waist.

"Yeah, Traynor, I am. If something as little as stealing the covers makes you break off the engagement not  _twelve hours_  after I proposed, then I don't know  _who_  you thought you were going to be marrying. I've been stealing the blankets from you since the first time we shared a bed, cupcake."

"Ooooh, I  _hate_  that name."

"Then don't call me 'princess' anymore. Now, why don't you let me warm you back up, as my apology for you getting cold in the first place, hm?" And she disappeared under the covers, kissing Samantha's no-longer-bare ring finger before moving on to some of her favorite spots on the woman's body.


End file.
